


Tear Stained

by MCUsic_to_my_ears



Series: Whumptober 2019 [6]
Category: Marvel, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Grief/Mourning, Introspection, Kinda, Loneliness, Peter Parker Has a Family, Protective Michelle Jones, Sadness, Sokovia Accords, Superhero Registration Act, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019, also kinda - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-16 02:56:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21029111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MCUsic_to_my_ears/pseuds/MCUsic_to_my_ears
Summary: May Parker, daughter of Michelle Jones and Peter Parker, misses her father.***Whumptober 2019 Day 14: Tear Stained





	Tear Stained

May was two years old when her daddy went away. Just old enough for him to hear her first words and see her first steps. Not old enough to be served his first empty tea cup or guide her first dance. 

Mommy didn’t like to talk about Daddy. Not to May at least. Sometimes, when her grandma came over, Mommy and Grammy would talk about how Daddy would be proud of her. Grammy lived in a big tower in the city, and when they visited on Christmas and Thanksgiving, there were so many pictures of her daddy and grandpa. 

Grammy said she didn’t want the world to forget who they were. Once, when they were walking through the zoo, a man stopped them and asked Grammy if she knew Ironman. 

Grammy had nodded. The man said he was a hero. Grammy agreed. 

“What’s a hero?” May had asked as her grandma scooped her up in her arms. 

Grammy placed a kiss on May’s forehead. “A hero is someone who always puts others first and who stops bad things from happening when they can. Your daddy was a hero too, just like Tony.”

May patted the older woman’s arm excitedly. “Really?”

“Yeah, baby. Really.”

May always knew that her daddy was special. When she asked, Mommy said that he died in the line of duty, but she never took May to the police station to introduce his old friends. But she didn’t know he was a hero. 

When, a year later, she started kindergarten, the boys in her class were playing cops and superheroes. 

“My daddy’s a hero,” she informed them proudly from the swing set. 

“No he’s not,” one of them, Tommy, responded quickly. “Heroes don’t have babies.”

May’s face crumpled. She wiped away the tears before they could notice her upset. 

That night, when her mommy was tucking her in, she asked, “Why can’t Daddy have babies?”

Mommy stilled. “Who told you that sweetie?”

May shrugged. “A boy at school. I told him Daddy was a hero, and he said that he wasn’t.”

Her mother busied herself with adjusting May’s pink blankets. “Well, honey, when I was younger, there were lots of people who had powers, mutants, that were allowed to do whatever they wanted.” May gasped. Mutants had to go to a different school and couldn’t come out to play. She had learned that when her neighbor stopped coming outside when she started changing colors to match the chalk they were using. May didn’t know that mutants were once able to do anything they wanted. “And your daddy was one of those people.” May stared at her mother, wide-eyed. She knew her daddy was special, but not that special. “Now, a lot of people, like your daddy, wanted to do good things. He wanted to help people. But some people mutants didn’t. After a while, it was decided that in order to keep everyone safe, mutants had to be kept separate.” Mommy looked away, eyes glossy. “Your daddy, May.” She sniffled. “Nobody knew he was a mutant, except for me, your uncle Ned, and your grandparents. So while all the other mutants were being taken away, your daddy got to stay with me.”

“But he wasn’t supposed to.”

Mommy nodded. “No baby. I was… selfish. I loved your daddy so much, and I wanted him to stay with me. He kept trying to help people, but it was harder now. People didn’t trust him like they used to. He was really careful, but after I had you, some people started asking questions and… your daddy got taken away.”

“Can we go see him?” May felt tears slide down her face.

“No baby. He’s gone forever now.” Mommy held her tight as May sobbed, taking a moment to clear the tears from her daughter’s cheeks. 

“But that’s not fair!” she wailed. 

“I know, May. When people try to tell you that your daddy and people like him are bad, you remember that. It’s not fair. They are human too. You remember that your daddy loved you.”

The next day at recess, when the boys were playing their game again, she joined in, helping the other superheroes escape from the cops, she felt tears sliding down her face. This time, she didn’t wipe them away. 


End file.
